this week's Bible study

As I have done these past few weeks, I waited until today to do my week's Bible study lessons.  I am really enjoying this study.  Again, if you're just tuning in, I'm working on a Priscilla Shirer study called Discerning the Voice of God.  Mrs. Shirer is Tony Evans's daughter & man is she good!  This week's chapter was about the voice of the Holy Spirit, his persistence to reach you personally, and the personal convictions He gives.

Here are my thoughts & comments and favorite parts of this week's study.  Remember, some of what I am posting are comments straight from the book which I can't take credit for.  I'll try to make it obvious where the quotes end & my thoughts begin.

1.  Satan's primary job is to prevent you from EVER hearing the voice of God.

2.  God gives you the info you need WHEN you need it.  The author spoke on the video last week about this & used the example of a tour guide.  When you enter a nice museum, a tour guide doesn't meet you at the front door & tell you every detail of all the cool things you'll see throughout the 2 hour walk through the museum & then send you off to go find stuff yourself.  Instead, she walks you through the museum, stopping you here & there throughout to show you artifacts and give you commentary on those items.  As with the tour guide, God doesn't tell us things we don't need to know yet.  I loved this analogy to God's guidance in our lives.

3.  When He speaks to you internally and then causes other events to confirm what He is saying, you should be on the lookout for God's direction.  When God speaks, He does so persistently.

4.  He promises to continue to direct our paths (Prov 3:5-6) and often does so by bombarding us with a thought that will not cease to permeate our thoughts and hearts.  When you are walking with Him, seeking Him, and desiring to receive His direction, He will direct you with consistent persistence.

5.  When He speaks, it's in the language of our own personal lives, through a verse or passage of Scripture that just seems to leap up off the page with our name on it.  -Ann Graham Lotz

6.  Scripture demands specific obedience of all believers on some matters.  Some areas, however, change based on each individual and what the Lord wants to accomplish in her life.  In these instances the Holy Spiritwill "call us by name" giving us detailed directions tailored to our lives. ......... When God requires certain things of us, it's easy for us to assume He must be requiring it from everyone else as well.  We might become legalistic and judgmental, placing other believers in bondage. ........ God has given us a combination of spiritual guidelines and freedom.  Each believer must determine what God would have her do personally.  The Holy Spirit knows your stage of spiritual development and will direct you accordingly.  His job is to instruct you in the way you should go and give you specific details concerning the issues of your life.

7.  James 4:17  To one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, for him it is sin.

8.  As God leads us in our journey toward Him, we each follow a different avenue.  The Holy Spirit draws us individual maps to follow.  Others may not choose our road, and they shouldn't if it's not a part of their map.  We shouldn't challenge them regarding their chosen route unless it's an issue of scriptural principle.  We should give others the freedom to enjoy the course they have prayerfully determined to be best for them.

9.  You are accountable to the Lord for what He personally requires of you.

10.  Keeping a fellow believer from stumbling trumps our personal freedoms.

11.  As we seek to hear the Holy Spirit speak through Scripture, we are tuning our spiritual ears to catch the moment when a passage seems to capture our attention in an almost shocking way, a way through which our thoughts are drawn to how the passage applies to a specific situation in our lives.  The Holy Spirit orchestrates these events.  He speaks!

12.  When the Holy Spirit speaks, His words come with such sudden, passionate authority that they will produce a holy amazement in you.  The authority of His message will strike your inner man with such a blow that it will shake loose your old agenda and replace it with His new one.

Let me know if you're enjoying reading these insights/excerpts.  I love to share what I'm reading & learning.

Saturday Jan 26

Last night I worked for one of our monthly "Parents Night Out" events.  I've done it once before.  It's quick money where I get paid a good deal more than my usual hourly rate, so that makes it pretty enticing....especially when I have missed three days of work this week!  Gotta make up for it on the paycheck, ya know?

These nights out are from 5-10.  Typically it's nearly 6:30 before all the kids arrive and then by 8 or 8:30, the parents start showing up to retrieve the kids & go home.  Only a few actually stay til 10:00.

Let me tell ya, last night we all joked that it was more of a "teacher's survival night" than a parent's night out.  We had a TON of kids.  I had 12 children that were all kindergarten & first grade age.  Two were girls.  Enough said?  Today my voice is hoarse.  The headache finally went away this afternoon when the hundreds of Tylenol finally killed it completely.  And my thighs are sore from all the jumping, dancing, wiggling & squirming I did in the music area with the kids...desperately trying to run off some of their energy.  Nothing like a good limbo & "Bear Hunt" to slow the little monkeys down.  ha ha!

While I was at the school doing this, my precious husband...the sweet little redneck that he is...took the kids to the mall.  Savannah & Sarah have been wanting to buy a Webkinz, so he took them to do just that.  He & I are not exactly what you would call "Mall People".  We generally try to avoid it like the plague actually.  The crowds, the noise, the caliber of items on display for our children to walk past & view...yikes.  On top of all that, we're not big shoppers, so the mall doesn't hold the intrigue & appeal for us that it does for others.  But in spite of all that, Larry took the girls to buy their Webkinz with Samuel in tow.  He wrote a really funny account of it on his blog this morning.  Feel free to check it out:  http://www.larryreeves.blogspot.com/

This morning was Samuel's 2nd week of basketball at the YMCA & then the Cub Scout Pinewood Derby!  We love the Pinewood Derby every year, so it was a big deal.  Unfortunately his car didn't do too well today, but he did get a cool Pinewood Derby racecar driver's license for participating.  The pack meeting & awards presentation was tonight, but alas...my sweet lad didn't get to attend because he spent nearly 90 minutes eating dinner.  Not only did he run out of time to get ready, but the rest of us had long since eaten, had a little dessert, changed clothes & moved on while he sat & poked at his spoonful of Taco Bake casserole.  Oh well.  Larry went to the meeting (he's a den leader, so he had to go anyway) & accepted Samuel's driver's license award for him.  Maybe he'll get his booty in gear & speed up next time!  (yeah, I know...we're evil mean parents for making him skip the awards ceremony....ha!  whatever!)

Here are a few shots of this morning for your viewing enjoyment.

He's the kiddo in the purple shirt & yellow jersey.  They were forming teams to play basketball at this point.

His car is the red & black striped one.  He called it the Red Tiger...or the Red Panther.  The name changed several times, so I have forgotten which one we ended up with.

His car was on the track to race next....think he was excited?  (he's not in uniform because we came straight from basketball to the race, so there was no time to change)

:::yawn:::  I'm tired.  Time for a bubble bath & bedtime over here.

 

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riddle for you

Question:  What do you get when a construction crew drills a hole into the water main?

Answer:  A day off, lunch with your sweetie & time to do the dishes & make the grocery list!

Turns out, sometime this morning, a construction crew accidentally boared into a water main near my work & messed up our water supply.  Since we could only get a tiny trickle of water from the faucets and the toilets wouldn't flush, we had to shut down for the day.  You should've seen the traffic jam in the parking lot with all the parents having to take their kids back home before they ever really got them dropped off!  What a mess!

The upside is that since I didn't get to use today's lesson plan for today & the supplies are all in my classroom, set up & ready to go, I can just walk in & use it all tomorrow---no prep time!  The downside is that since I wasn't there, I don't get paid.  Bummer.

This is the school where I work:

Oh...and on a side note, is it normal for children to be able to put their entire fist into their mouth?  (shrugging shoulders)

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Samuel & Martin Luther King

I had an interesting, yet very sweet, conversation with Samuel yesterday afternoon.  When he got in the car from school, he started talking about his birthday (which is at the end of March).  I'm not sure how he got onto that subject, but we were talking about what kind of party he'd have & he said that he just wanted "love & presents" for his birthday.  I giggled about that & then asked what kind of presents he was thinking about.  He named off a thing or two, but I was intrigued at one particular gift he listed.  A picture of Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

Hmm....now, if you don't know or if you have forgotten, we are white.  We have raised our children to be color blind & I love that sweet part of them that sees no boundaries between themselves & people with different skin tones.  But even this....asking for a picture of MLK....kind of surprised me.  Really?  A picture of Martin Luther King, Jr.?

 

So I asked him why he wanted a picture of Mr. King.  His response (in a very "duh!!!!" sort of tone) was "Because we're both soldiers mom!".

 

Umm....ok.  Soldiers?

 

"Yes mom.  We're just alike."

 

Now I had to stifle my giggles because I was thinking of the obvious differences, but I loved his passion & enthusiasm, so I let him continue.

 

"We both want people with brown skin to be able to go to the same places & do the same things as people with white skin.  It's not fair when they can't."

 

I agreed with him & told him that he was right.  Those are very important things and we have Mr. King to be grateful to for part of that.  We talked about Mr. King's part in the fight for the rights of African-Americans.  I had to grin, knowing that yesterday was his first day back to school after a holiday for MLK Day.  I'm sure they must've talked about this at school yesterday....but still, his innocence tickles me.

 

Yep...my baby & Martin Luther King.....they're JUST ALIKE!  :)

Tues Jan 22--my day & Bible study notes for the week

What a great day it's been.  My school had the day off today, so while my kids & hubby left bright & early this morning, I had no where to go but right here!  Of course, I'm a mommy, so my relaxing day off included doing all the dishes, laundry, some minor grocery shopping & returning a movie we rented (Underdog--cute family movie!).  I emptied the trash cans & swept the kitchen and vacuumed the living room.  Oh, and I also did all 5 days of my Bible study for this week and went to Savannah's school and had lunch with her.  (So much for a calm, relaxing day off, huh?  Oh well...such is the life.)

Anyway, in doing my Bible study today, I found a few parts that I especially liked & wanted to share.  You may remember from last week, the study I'm doing is Discerning the Voice of God by Priscilla Shirer.

1.)  Isaiah 43:18-19 says "Forget about what's happened.  Don't keep going over old history.  Be alert, be present.  I'm about to do something brand new.  It's bursting out, don't you see it?"

2.)  In one part, she discussed the difference between following your conscience & listening to the Spirit.  She said "The problem with following your conscience is that every person's conscience is formed and developed based on their personal environment and specific life circumstances.  Each person's conscience has been shaped by the tradition and truth or lies to which it has been exposed.  ...........our conscience can be shaped in a way that is not pleasing to the Lord.  This can hinder our ability to clearly hear what the Holy Spirit is saying to us."

(a follow up to #2)  3.)  As you surrender your life and obey His written word, He begins to reprogram your conscience.  Your Spirit-led conscience starts to discern between sin & righteousness and instructs you accordingly.

4.)  What hinders me from hearing is that I am taken up with other things.  It is not that I will not hear God, but I am devoted in the right place.  I am devoted to things, to service, to convictions, and God may say what He likes, but I do not hear Him.  The child attitude is always, "Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth."  ---Oswald Chambers

5.)  Paul didn't say (in Romans) to experience victory in a sin area by fighting really hard.  He just said to present, yield, or surrender your body.  Through Jesus you have already been given victory as a gift.  (1 Cor. 15:57)  You experience it by presenting your body to God as an instrument for Him to use.

6.)  If we want to hear God's voice clearly, we need to immerse ourselves in the Word of God.  As we hear Him speak through His Word, He works in us to radically change us (2 Thess 2:13).  When you take in God's Word, massive renovation takes place on the inside.

7.)  Desiring and doing His will is not my responsibility to discover; it's His responsibility to reveal.

(in follow up to #7)  8.)  No longer do I frantically search for God's will; I frantically search for God.  I trust that it is His responsibility to show me what He wants me to do and how to do it by speaking through the Holy Spirit and the Word of God.  As I seek Him, stay in His Word and continue to keep an intimate relationship with Him by confessing my sin, He transforms my mind & emotions to align with His plans.

NOTE:  These were all quotes directly from the book, so I can't take credit for any of this.  It's just the stuff I underlined or highlighted as I read this week's lessons.

Hope you enjoyed it!

Prayers for Noah

About six or eight months ago, I was reading a MOMYS digest (MOMYS=Mothers of Many Young Siblings).  One of the members posted a prayer request for her little boy, Noah.  She included a link to their blog where she lets people keep up with Noah's progress.  Noah has a mitochondrial disorder & has a host of medical problems.  Basically since birth, he's been sick in one way or another.  His illnesses aren't simple.  If he gets sick at all, it's severe, require a weeks-long stay in the hospital.  He's had multiple surgeries and deals with all sorts of things day in & day out.  Anyway, Kate (his mom) is due any day with Noah's baby brother.  Noah is the youngest of a family of 7 or 8 children, so clearly...mom & dad have their hands full.  They are tickled pink about the coming new addition, and Noah is once again in the hospital.  They are a beautiful family.  Mom & Dad always share the things they're thankful for as well as the things to pray about for Noah.  They are a family of great faith & deep conviction.  Anyway......if you'd like to keep up with Noah, feel free to visit their blog at: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/ourquiverfull 

hmm...and how does one do that?

This morning in the car on the way back from the doc appointment, I heard Savannah & Samuel bickering about something.  I fussed at them & told them to cut it out.  A couple seconds later, Savannah said "MOM!  Make him stop!  He's smiling at me in a mean way!"

LOL!  And how exactly does a person SMILE in a MEAN way?  ha ha!  Kids crack me up!

Monday Jan 21

The weekend has been a good one.  Saturday morning, Samuel started basketball at the YMCA.  He's played before & had a lot of fun and this time was no different.  Five minutes before his hour was up, he fell & was on the bottom of a 'dogpile' and scratched his elbow.  Since it was nearly time to go & he was in no mood to keep playing, we came home, but he's raring to go & start again next Saturday.  He's a trooper!  After we got home, he & Larry worked on painting his Pinewood Derby car for the upcoming Cub Scout race.  Sarah joined in, too.

Yesterday, my buddy's hubby (Greg---the one I posted a prayer request for last week) got to come home from the hospital.  Wow....it's amazing how medical care works these days.  He had his chest opened up & just a few days later, he's home.  He's doing well, but just needs rest & time to heal.  Last night, their son spent the night with us.  He'll be here most of the day today as well.

Normally I'd never be awake at this time of the morning on a day off, but Savannah had a doctor's appointment scheduled for 7:40 this morning.  (Clearly, we scheduled this a while back when we didn't realize they'd be out of school today...we don't make a habit of scheduling appointments for this early usually!!!)  Larry took her for me, but the other kids & I will leave in about 15 minutes to go pick her up so he can go onto work.  :::yawn:::  Think I'll be able to convince 4 kids to take a nap today?  ha ha!!

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Snow!

Oh boy!  We have SNOW today.  It's rare for us to see any snow at all in Texas, so we get really excited about it when it falls.  Ok, so our snow is not usually "real" snow.  It's just sleet that piles up in the crevices of outdoor furniture.  Today I saw some actual flakes, though, so it's not all just ice.  As you can see, it's really piling up!!  (grin)

I found this HUGE patch of it on some cardboard on Larry's trailer.  (snicker, snicker)

Here's what the back yard looks like at this point.  This is after several hours of snowfall.  The little white things in the air on this picture are snowflakes still falling.  Wow...it's pretty thick out there.  (giggle)

Just across the fenceline in our neighbor's yard, I saw this.  They must be working on putting a snowman together.  They might even be able to get one that's nearly ankle high!  (tee hee)

I'm glad I'm home for the night.  There's no telling how dangerous the roads might be.  See?  (ha ha!)

So there ya have it.....snow in Texas.  It's a beautiful thing isn't it?

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another update on Greg

Greg is doing well, hurting quite a bit, but he is medically doing well.  A few of you had emailed to ask me how he was, so I wanted to send a quick update before I head off to bed.

Reverant Day

Last night, I emailed back & forth with the mom of one of my kiddos at school.  The little girl is having surgery Monday & will be out of school for several weeks afterward.  Since this is a little more serious than having tubes put in her ears or getting her tonsils out, I fell asleep last night praying for the surgeon that will work on her Monday.

Then this morning, as I drove the kids to school, I passed the city cemetary.  I always peer out the left window as I drive by, partly out of some freaky weird morbid curiosity to see if there are any new graves (I always wonder about the person's 'story'...what was their life like?  did they know God?) and partly out of reverance for the lives lost, the families who are grieving.  It's just something I do.  Maybe it's weird, but anyway, I do.  About a year ago I guess it was, I noticed a baby grave on the far side of the cemetary, right up by the fence at the road.  A new sign then marked that section as "babyland".  I was sad to see that this fresh grave meant some family had lost an infant or small child that week.  Soon after, that first baby grave was joined by 2 more (both in the same week) and then another one just before Christmas.  I always count the baby graves as I drive past, praying that no other family has had to lose a child.  There have been four graves for the past several weeks.  Just four.  But this morning, I saw a pile of dirt with shovels layed across the open hole of a new grave.  Oh no....someone else lost a baby.  As I drove past & saw this, I said a prayer for the family who is mourning today.  I dropped off the kids and then drove back home, feeling a sense of honor that I am a mother who's never lost a child to death, and I praised God for allowing me as many years as I have had with my children.

I went onto work and then this afternoon, when I went to pick up the kids from school, I saw it.  I passed the same cemetary & there, at the new baby grave, were two men, each holding a set of straps as they lowered an itty bitty casket into the ground.  I cried as I drove to Sarah's school.  I cried for the job they had to do...I cried for the mommy who left the cemetary today after her baby's funeral....I cried for the big brother or sister who was left without a baby to hold....and I cried for my own childrens' health.  Those were tears of thankfulness.

I came home this afternoon & checked my email to find that a little girl whose health I've been following through her parents' blog passed away today.  Three year old Madeline Lester was born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, a birth defect that most do not survive.  Madeline made it three years, which is a long life in most HLHS patients, but today she left her body behind & walked into the arms of God.  And so, in reading that this afternoon, I felt an odd irony between her death & that of the cemetary baby.

I don't really know where this post is headed or why I felt the need to post it.  Then again, I often post things for no good reason.  That's what a blog is about right?  Just a nice place to dump all the contents of your mind for the day, right?  I hope all of you parents who are reading this will consider the deaths I 'saw' today & go give your babies one more hug before you go to bed tonight.

And to update from yesterday's prayer request, today, my buddy's husband had triple bypass surgery.  He came through the surgery fine.  Everything went well.  He's been extubated & is recovering in ICU tonight.  Now we just need to focus our prayers on his sweet wife, my pal Kathy.  She's got a lot on her plate in the coming weeks while he recovers.  I know she'd appreciate any extra prayers you can spare.  :)

Bible study

This afternoon, I sat down to work on my Bible study for church tomorrow night.  Yes, I had all week to do it, but honestly, I'm far to ADD to actually remember what I read & meditated on a week ago, so I have to save it all up to the end & do it all in the last couple of days before the next meeting.  Otherwise, we sit down in our group to discuss what we studied this week & I say things like "what book did we read?  what was it about?".  ha ha!

So anyway, I sat down to work on it & was going along so well, really soaking it up & enjoying it.  While reading & doing the homework in the workbook, there is a lot of Bible page-turning & reading to be done to answer questions.  One of the questions led me to Isaiah 55.  During the time Andrew lived here, I highlighted the following section & double underlined verse 11 (in yellow below).  It was such a comfort to re-read it because one thing I've struggled with since the kids moved out is whether or not we did enough to make sure that they knew God & His WORD before they left.  I mean, in the future, I'm sure they'll look back & realize that we were nice church-going folks & all, but I mean... did we make enough effort to really impact them on a personal level?  I guess every parent struggles with that.  Anyway, this is what I read:

Isaiah 55:8-12 (NIV):

8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways, declares the Lord.  9 As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 11 so is my word that goes forth from my mouth; It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.  12 You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; and the mountains and hills will burst into song before you and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.

What a neat confirmation for me. I maked this in my Bible a long time ago, while the kids still lived here & specifically wrote "Andrew" next to vs. 11.  ahhhh....God is good.

(By the way, the study's called Discerning the Voice of God by Priscilla Shirer--she's Dr. Tony Evans' daughter & has several good studies out!  She's the next Beth Moore or Kay Arthur, I tell ya!)

Please pray for Greg

Please say a prayer tonight for Greg.  He is my buddy Kathy's husband.  Tomorrow morning, he's having open heart surgery.  He needs at least a double & possibly a triple bypass.  The surgery is at 11:00am tomorrow, so please cover him in prayers.

While you're at it, pray for Kathy & the kids.  They're all worried about Greg.  Larry will probably be able to go sit at the hospital with Kathy during the surgery, but I can't b/c of work.  I will update you as soon as I know more.  In the meantime, pray for the surgeon's hands and for an awesome outcome where he no longer has to worry about cardiac stuff!

Books

1. One book that changed your life.

Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers.  It was *the* book that convinced me to begin reading fiction again.  And on top of that, the message is so powerful, that you can't read it & miss it.  It is the story of the book of Hosea (from the Bible) re-written with in a modern language, set in the California Goldrush time period.  I am NOT usually a historical fiction person, but the story in this book is far too powerful to miss simply because of the time period.

2. One book that you have read more than once.
The Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie O'Martian.  Actually, this fits the category for question #1, too.  I have re-read several parts of it numerous times.  Life & marriage-changing, I tell ya!

3. One book you would want on a desert island.
The Bible, particularly my NIV Life Applications Study Bible.

4. Two books that made you laugh.
All my Baby Blues comic strip books.  I have had a bunch of them over the years.

5. One book that made you cry.
Everything I have read by Karen Kingsbury.  Seriously, I cry while reading every single one!

6. One book you wish you'd written.
I can't think of one.

7. One book you wish had never been written.
I can't think of one for this, either.

8. Two books you are currently reading.
If it's Not One Thing, It's Your Mother by Anita Renfroe (a funny book by a Christian comedian about mother/daughter relationships)

and

A Time to Dance by Karen Kingsbury

9. One book you've been meaning to read.
Cure for the Common Life by Max Lucado

10. Five people that I tag:

Ivy, Terri, Alyssa, Darcy & Suzanne

Funny Samuel saying

Samuel is always coming up with some goofy thing.  Tonight while we were eating supper, he got up & went to the fridge to look for something.  We kept watching him, thinking that he'd pull out what he needed & go sit back down, but after a minute or so, he was still hunting.  I finally asked what he was looking for, to which he replied "the red Ranch".

LOL!!!!!  He uses Catalina dressing on his salad & the rest of us use Ranch, so I guess he thought "Ranch" was the name for salad dressing since that's what the rest of us say.

Aren't kids funny?

The ABCs of me

I found this on a friend's blog & it looked like fun!  (Thanks Terri...for letting me steal this...well, I guess I didn't really ask, so you didn't "let" me....hmm....well, just forget you read this, ok?  haha)

Accent  I don't think I have one, but then again, I've never lived anywhere but here.  I suspect someone from the north could at least tell I was from the South.

Bible Books that I like  Colossians (after a year long study of this little 4 chapters long book, it really strikes a chord every time I read it!), and Psalms...which will always be my absolutely favorite.  It's been my "rock" through so many hard times.

Chore I don’t care for  I can only name ONE?

Dog or Cat  I really could go either way, but for different reasons.  I'm a mom, wife, teacher....I have enough to take care of.  So a low-maintenance pet (like a cat, which is lower-maintenance than a dog) is cool.  However, the snuggly, warm, sweet nature of a dog is hard to beat.

Essential Electronics  computer & digital camera

Favorite Cologne  Avon's Extraordinary or Avon's Goddess

Gold or Silver  depends on what I'm wearing it with, but I do have a lot of silver stuff

Handbag I Carry Most Often  I'm a pretty low-maintenance girl.  I have a black & white Betty Boop purse that I use w/ black pants/shoes outfits.  And I have a chocolate brown purse that I use w/ brown pants/shoes outfits.  So, I basically have those 2 & use them interchangably all the time.

Insomnia  Not very often...I can sleep just about anywhere, anytime!

Job Title  First & foremost, I am a wife & mom.  Second in line, I am a preschool teacher.

Kids  Savannah (11yr old), Samuel (7yr old) and Sarah (6yr old)

Living Arrangements  in a 3BR/2BA house on a quiet little street in a great neighborhood with my sweet husband & 3 kids.

Most Admirable Trait  I don't know......someone post a comment & let me know what it is.

Naughtiest Childhood Behavior   Who, me?  I never misbehaved.  (wink!)

Overnight Hospital Stays   When I was in 1st grade, I had my tonsils/adenoids removed & back in the dark ages, you had to stay 2 nights for that.  Then I had 1 overnight stay while I was preg with Samuel & had a freak case of labrynthitis that mimicked preeclampsia, so they kept me overnight to watch me "just in case".  Other than that, I have only been in the hospital for my 3 births.  I've stayed AT the hospital w/ Larry after his surgeriesseveral times, though.

Phobias   snakes...yikes!  And rodents of just about any kind really freak me out.  I'm not AFRAID of them so much as just reallyyyyyyy creeped out by then.  Oh, and touching anything dead (pets, people...anything) really weirds me out, too.  Luckily THAT one doesn't happen very often so I don't have to worry about that much.

Quote   This changes often b/c I'm always hearing some cool quote that I focus on for a while....but the one on my myspace page right now is "We must interpret circumstances by God, and not God by our circumstances."  G. Campbell Morgan said that.

Religion  Is this asking for my religion?  In that case, I am Christian.  The thing is, I am not religious.  I have a relationship with God, which entirely different than religion.  I am forever looking at people's traditions & asking myself (& them sometimes), "Is that religion or relationship?".

Siblings  I have two older sister.  They're MUCH older, too....ya know, really ancient.  (snickering quietly)  I can get away with that because they don't often read my blog.  Tee hee!  Seriously, they're only 6 & 8 years older than me, so it's not that big of an age difference...I just like to tease them.

Time I Wake Up  During the school year, on school days, it's about 6:20.  On weekends & during the summer, it's more like 8:30.

Unusual talent  I can do a monkey yell that sounds pretty realistic.  I can also bark like a seal while balancing a ball on my nose.  (Ok, so skip the ball on my nose...but I can bark like a seal....or at least my kids think it sounds realistic.)

Vegetable I Refuse to Eat  There aren't too many.  I'm a big veggie eater & really do believe I could go vegetarian without much of a problem.  I do love my chicken, turkey & shellfish though, so occasionally I'd have to get a meat fix.  :)  I am a little picky about how I like different veggies cooked, but I will eat most veggies in one form or another.

Worst Habit  biting my nails.  I've done it since I was a preschooler & have never found a successful way of stopping despite trying many approaches.  I figure that's better than cigarettes or drugs or alcohol, so I'll stick to my nails & not worry about it.

X-rays  I've had a couple of my right ankle at different times when I've sprained it, but otherwise, I've only ever had dental xrays....never have broken a bone.

Yummy Stuff I Cook  ask my family!  I'm a great cook.  (well.....99.9% of the time anyway!)

Zoo Animal I Like Most  It's always been monkeys, hasn't it mom?  I used to ask for a pet monkey as a kid.  Some little girls wanted a pony.  Not me, I wanted a monkey.

Local murder case

While some of my blog entries are funny or silly or just goofy stuff about the kids, this one is serious.

There is a local high profile murder case underway right now in our town.  Larry is performing the funeral service for the murdered girl on Thursday.  Please pray for him as he prepares for this service.

To read more about the case, you can look at this articles on our local newspaper site:

http://tylerpaper.com/article/20080107/NEWS08/986513661

And more about the girl & her life:

http://tylerpaper.com/article/20080107/NEWS01/36812992

Sunday January 6, 2008

This morning started out as usual.  We got up & went to church like every other Sunday morning.  About 1/2 a mile from the church driveway, I heard Sarah quietly crying in the seat behind me.  When I asked her what was wrong, she said she didn't want to go to church---her tummy hurt.  Since I was already *there*, I decided to see if it passed because she'd been fine all morning long.  We got there & I delivered the other kids to their classes (well...to the stairway where they take off & go to their classes on their own, anyway) and then took Sarah in search of Larry.  We tried having her eat a pig in the blanket, but it didn't help...she was still silently crying & saying she felt bad, so I brought her home.  Larry brought the other kids home with him when he came home.

When Sarah & I got home, I told her she needed to lay down & be real still & quiet for a while.  She layed on the couch & played Savannah's Gameboy for quite a while and then decided to play some online games.  (She's a big fan of the Suite Life of Zack & Cody game on Disneychannel.com.)  After all the resting & playing quiet video games, she felt better, but by then it was time for everyone else to come home.  And so, she & I had a quiet morning.

I spent a while this morning reading my latest Karen Kingsbury book-- Oceans Apart.  It's sooo good.  I know, I say that about all of KK's books, but really...she writes great stuff.  I've only had 1 of her books that I couldn't get into.  I bought it on barnes & noble's website & resold it on half.com.  It just didn't suit me.

Anyway, it's 10:15pm now.  Time for me to hit the sack in a few minutes.  Back to work & school for all of us tomorrow!

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I am so stinkin' spoiled rotten

I have an amazing husband.  I have three great kids.  I am blessed with the most awesome friends & family.  I have a super job where I work with some really wonderful ladies and teach a fun group of kids every day.  What could make all that any better?

Well...let me tell ya.....

I love that I get to take a couple weeks off at Christmas time and spend all summer with my kids.  Generally speaking, when they're out of school, I'm out of school.  I'm home in the afternoons/evenings with them & I am off on the weekends.  Not only that but when we are off from school & work, I sleep til 8:30 or 9:00 AND I take a nap if I want to.  Ahhhh.... I am so incredibly rested & refreshed it's not even funny.

Tomorrow morning we all go back to work/school and I am ready.  I couldn't be more rested-up for the day that we go back!  It'll be fun to see all "my kids" again & hear about their Christmases.  Life is good.  I am blessed.

Samuel's sweet note & Taco Soup recipe

Tonight for supper, I made some Taco Soup.  I used to make it fairly often but we haven't had it in ages, so I pulled the recipe out & now I remember why we loved it so much!!!  If ya want to try it, I'm including the recipe here.  But don't forget to scroll further down & read Samuel's sweet letter I found on his bed tonight.

Taco Soup

1 pkg. taco seasoning mix

1 can chili with beans

1 can whole kernel corn (drained) + 1 can of water

1 (5oz) can sliced black olives, drained

1 can of diced tomatoes, drained

 

Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan or skillet.  Stir well.  Heat until boiling.  Ladel into bowls.  Top with a spoonful of sour cream & a handful of Frito's.

 

YUM!!!!!!!

 

 

Now for Samuel's sweet letter.  He has a spiral notebook he writes in.  He mostly writes songs that are goofy & cornball, but oh so Samuel.  Those are cute, too, but I loved this.  Like I did with Sarah's chore list in the other post, I'm leaving his spelling so you can see why I thought it was so cute.  (NOTE:  Samuel mixes up the tr- sound with the ch- sound, so keep that in mind as you read this.)

 

"I wound never chrade my family.  I love my family.  I wod not chrade them for one melyened dollers."

 

I don't know who this was for, but I love it!  How sweet is that?!

broken bed

Did you know that small children could BREAK a bed?  Yes, indeedy!  Check it out.  That board Larry is holding is totally broken in half!

It seems that when one or two young children stand on such a board, it snaps right in two!  Oy!

But alas, daddy & grandpa are good fixers!  All better!  :)

Cute Sarah thing

Today while doing laundry, I found a paper in Sarah's laundry basket that made me smile.  Several days ago, the kids & I were talking about not living like pigs.  (well, maybe "we" weren't talking about it.....it was more me talking AT them)  Anyway, in that discussion, we talked about chores and all three kids vowed they were no longer going to leave me messes to clean up.  (ha...we'll see how long that lasts)

Sarah headed off to quiet time that day saying that she was going to make a list of chores we needed to do daily/weekly and then after quiet time, I could divide them up & assign them to the kids.  I thought it sounded like a fine idea, but she never produced the list later on, so I really just forgot about it.  Well, that list is what I found in her laundry basket today (buried under dirty clothes...ha ha).  Here is what she had on the list.  I left the spelling alone...this is exactly the way she wrote it.

1.  clean bathroom

2.  clean toylit

3.  sweape

4.  swifer

5.  clean doornobes

6.  vacumme

7.  clean room

8.  make bed

9.  clean sealing fan

How cute is that??  I love those "door nobes".  :)